Just how do they do it?

onJune 17, 2015

I guess the number one question we get asked (aside from how do we make the maze shape) is how do we do it? Just where do we come up with all these crazy ideas? That answer is long and a bit complicated but the short version is: other attractions, people we meet, stuff we see, our children, and well, we just don’t know.

Every year, we attend a conference with maze owners from across the United States and Canada. We share ideas, tour farms and other attractions, and really have a lot of fun. It was at such a conference that we met the co-creator and builder of our “big idea” this year–The Crooked Porch.

Yep, this is where it started.

What do you think? Not much yet, huh. And, yes, it is supposed to look like that although Eric is fond of saying we lost the level along the way. Here’s how my conversation with Tim (our builder) went. Me : “I want something no one within 200 miles has. Something like Dr. Seuss meets old grandpa on the porch. A real conversation starter.” Tim: “Okay.”

That was it. A few sketches later, The Crooked Porch at CornDodgers Farm was officially born. Tim and his wife, Beth, made the trek from Oklahoma to start building and for three solid weeks…it rained. Every…single…day. Not just a little rain, but mud making, drown your spirits, make you want to rant and rave, rain.

But what can a farmer do but persevere? We put our happy faces on (cause, let me tell you, I have never been more excited about a project than this one!) and kept building as best we could. Wouldn’t you know it, the day Tim and Beth left, the rain stopped. Cold turkey. Ha! Such is life on the farm. We picked up finishing the building ourselves, and let me tell you, it has been an adventure! You know when people say they will only ever build one house? The same holds true for barns, bakeries, and gift shops (well, probably not really, but we’ll go with that for now). Hang in there with us and we share the joys, triumphs, and sometimes tribulations of the single largest project we have ever taken on.